An alarm sounding every 15 seconds was ignored for more than two hours before a patient who was not connected to a required ventilator died, a state prosecutor said Tuesday in announcing civil and criminal charges against the operators and nine employees of a Long Island nursing home.
New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman said in a 58-page civil complaint that operators and staff of the Medford Multicare Center for Living, Inc., had shown a "history of neglect of Medford's vulnerable residents," since the 320-bed facility on eastern Long Island opened in 2003.
Schneiderman noted that six nursing home employees had previously been prosecuted in 2008 on charges of neglecting patients, and contended conditions at the facility had not improved since. In a civil complaint, he noted that the nursing home claimed to be "dedicated to improving the lives of our residents and families with competence, enthusiasm, honesty, respect, and love."
"Nothing could be further from the truth," the civil complaint said. "Medford's owners have instead dedicated themselves to lining their own pockets and improving their families' philanthropic reputation at home and abroad while turning a blind eye to the persistent neglect of its residents by senior management and staff."
In the criminal case, Schneiderman charges one employee, identified as Kethlie Joseph, 61, of Brentwood, with criminally negligent homicide in the October 2012 death of a 72-year-old patient who was supposed to be connected to a ventilator. The name of Joseph's attorney was not immediately available. To read the entire article click here.